


Tales of the Silver Ring

by minstreltroubadour



Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 09:49:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14210478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minstreltroubadour/pseuds/minstreltroubadour
Summary: A series of one-shots as Claire tries to tell the story of her silver wedding ring to the people in her life.





	Tales of the Silver Ring

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! First of all, I want to say a huge thank you for taking the time to read this! I truly appreciate it! 
> 
> Second, this idea has been in my prompt list for a while. I've always admired Claire's ring from the books and TV (I have one and I always wear it!) and think that it's just a beautiful piece of jewellery that people are just naturally intrigued and drawn to. So unique and special that people will ask her about it. (Gosh, I am not good at summaries). Always wondered how she would explain herself in these situations. :D 
> 
> Anyways, if you have a character in mind, feel free to send it in. As always, comments and suggestions for writing improvement are always welcome!

“It feels so good to be out of the house and out of the school!” Claire exclaimed as she and Joe entered the bar for some little night cap and celebratory liquor. 

Their class just finished their last exam to culminate the first year of their medical school training and they all agreed to head out to their favorite class bar, Benny’s, to celebrate surviving it. 

Benny’s was a brain child of one of their classmates, so they were patrons and regulars to the place. Benny’s was unlike your traditional bar. Instead of dark interiors and over-bearing leather seats, the walls were painted a faint sky blue and worn-off couches surround the space to allow for a more comfortable sitting and conversation experience. It was unlike the common brownstone Boston landscape and that’s the most they loved about it. A nice break from the gloomy walls of classrooms and homes. If you were not a local, one would’ve thought it to be a café until you see that the menu doesn’t offer much food. Due to their class size, they occupied most of the space and their friend decided to close the bar just for this evening’s celebration. 

Some of their classmates were already there and they greeted each other as they passed by each one. 

“Ah, Claire and Joe!” Dean, the barkeep of Benny’s, who started working there the same time they started medical school. He has made it a point to get to know the regulars and their drinks. “Your usual?”

“Yes” Joe said.

“Make mine a double” Claire chimed after with a sly smile to Joe. “You’re paying the first round, gotta make it count”

They settled on a couch, talking endlessly about the answers from their last exam when Dean appeared with their drinks. Whiskey for Claire and a Beer for Joe. “Heard about your test today and from the looks of all of you here, it must’ve been pretty brutal”, Dean said as he set their drinks down. Joe and Claire can only grunt and laugh in agreement. 

Claire grabbed her drink and took a sizable gulp and sighed as stress left her body. “I didn’t think I needed that but turns out I did” she said. “Thank you, Joe, this is a nice break”. As if on cue, Claire downed the rest of the glass in one gulp, not two minutes just as Dean placed it there. 

“Slow down, LJ. You don’t want to leave the party too early” Joe joked as he sipped his beer.

“Don’t worry about it, Joe. I’ve had stronger liquors and this,” she motioned to her glass. “…is nothing.” Claire scoffed, remembering Colum’s Rhenish wine that she could pretty much hold even three drinks after. 

The sudden appearance of the memory two centuries back surprised Claire and immediately brought her to a somber mood. She did not expect the moment to hit her as much as it did but it did, it always did and always will. What Claire realised when she came back and tried to make a life again is that It doesn’t matter how long it has been since she’s back 20th century - a part of her life will always be in the behind the stones, no matter how hard she tried to shake it off or forget it.   

Joe must’ve felt the slight shift in her mood and quickly brought her out her funk. He motioned for Dean to refill Claire’s glass which was topped in no time. 

“So, LJ, would you happen to have plans, say next week?” Joe asked, changing the topic to something regular and normal. 

Claire appreciatively smiled at Joe. “Not at the moment. Why?” she took another sip of her whiskey. 

“I was thinking of inviting you and the family over our house for dinner sometime. Gayle has been meaning to see you, you know, catch up with your girl talk and all. Bring Brianna along, I miss that little miss.” Joe said.

“Girl talk, really, Joe?” Claire laughed. 

“Well, I always see you two in the corner, talking and laughing about something and when I come over, it all stops with a somewhat knowing look from the both of you. It’s like being high school all over again.” Joe reasoned with a small hint of embarrassment over his observation. “I always ask her what you guys were talking about but she never budges.”

Claire smiled at the thought. Though there are friends who just know their significant others by name, Gayle and Claire have actually gotten close on their own in the year that they’ve known each other. They were introduced by Joe in the first week of their classes and since then, they have taken to each other’s company from doing grocery shopping together, going to lunch together, planning a birthday surprise for Joe, tips on motherhood, and many more instances in the year that grew their friendship apart from Joe. 

“Of course, she won’t. It’s kind of a rule in our _girls_ handbook” Claire explained with a knowing nod and took another sip. “ Wednesday at 7 sounds good to you?” 

“Wednesday it is.”

With Claire’s mood back up and memories of the past put on the back burner once more, Joe proceeded in catching up with Claire on their kids, more on their schooling, the teachers they hated, teachers they liked, generic and petty topics that had them laughing for hours. 

After sometime, a clinging of a glass grabbed everyone’s attention and one of their classmates proposed to his girlfriend. The girl said yes just as the grandfather clock in the corner of the bar chimed to indicate that it was already 9 in the evening – a perfect coincidence to a hopeless romantic such as Joe. Everyone clapped, cheered and gave their congratulations to the newly-engaged couple. 

“What perfect timing was that clock! Did you notice that?” Joe excitedly shared to Claire as everyone went back to their own groups and conversations. 

“Yes, I did. I think Bill planned this, I mean, to time it all perfectly. That was definitely not a coincidence” Claire explained with nonchalance she was sure Joe would bash her on. 

“Oh, come on! Don’t ruin the romance with your logic” He waved his hand in humorous dismissal of her. 

“That reminds me!” Joe turned to Claire once more. “I have a question I’ve been meaning to ask you for quite a while, I keep forgetting about it or to ask you about it…”

“Out with it, Joe” Claire straightened in her seat, always interested in his questions. 

“I wanted to ask you about your rings” Joe said with eager anticipation on his face on the impending story behind it. 

“My rings?” Claire quickly put her drink down and looked at the item in question. “What about them?” She instinctively drew her hands to cover one over the other, feeling a little nervous on how or _what_ to answer him.

“I know the gold one is your wedding ring because they’re pretty common” Joe showing off his gold band. “But that silver ring on your right hand has always intrigued me” He said while pointing at said item. “I haven’t seen one like it before.”

“I, uhm,..” Claire stammered to remember her fabricated stories from before when asked about her past, tried to conjure any explanation or story she could fabricate but the whiskey was not helping in finding speed in her mental prowess.

Joe felt her flush, unsure why she was suddenly embarrassed by them. He thought it was a fairly simple question with a fairly simple answer but her face contorted a confused look he hasn’t seen before. “It’s fine if you don’t want to share, LJ. You don’t have to tell the story if you don’t want to” He said with a smile and in an appreciative tone, offering her an out.

“Sorry. I didn’t think many people notice it. Nobody usually asks me about it” she clarified hoping to not ruin the fun night they’re having. She looked at the ring in question, something she’s been wearing for the past decade or so. She decided that no harm can come in sharing a rather harmless story, right? Plus, it was a chance for her to be herself for a little while, be the part of her she never gets to talk about or share and tonight, in confidence with Joe, she decided to share it – at least, share the story as close to the truth as possible - and it excited her. 

“It’s rather beautiful, isn’t it?” Claire began. “I have worn this ring for almost a decade now, have never it off since it’s been put there by _someone I love and who loved me very much_.” 

Joe stayed silent, just listening even though his mind was running with a million questions. Those, he figured, can be asked later and not when Claire is opening a part of her he hasn’t seen before. There was a different light in her eyes, a different aura in her that seem more her, more authentic in some way, than how she usually is. He was incredibly enchanted by her change of demeanour that he did not dare interrupt her yet. 

She held her right hand to Joe, who immediately put his beer down and took Claire’s ring to see it closer. “It’s a wide silver band, decorated in the highland interlace style, a small and delicate Jacobean thistle bloom carved in the center of each link” she said masterfully, pointing to each detail as if she were a tour guide at a museum.  

“And you’re right, it’s one of a kind.” She continued. _Only for me,_ she thought. “It’s from Scotland, made by Ewen the armorer from Castle Leoch in 1743.” She finished the telling the basic details allowing it to sink in between them. 

“This is ring is more than 200 years old?!” Joe asked with much fascination as Claire nodded enthusiastically. “And you even know the history of it!” He returned to look at Claire’s hand again, now with closer inspection with the brand new information relayed. “That’s why I couldn’t find it anywhere! This is not just vintage, this is like a piece of history!” 

“You were looking for it?” Claire’s eyebrows furrowed in question and amusement, the smile brought on by the moment still on her face.

Joe blushed embarrassingly at his revelation. “Uhm, yes. It’s beautiful, I thought I’d give something _similar_ to Gayle for our anniversary. But I couldn’t find one ready-made or anything like it. Now I know why.” He added for measure to make sure that she knew he didn’t mean to steal her thunder or something. “I’m sorry, LJ. Didn’t mean to belittle or demean now that I know what it meant…”

“It’s alright, Joe. Think nothing of it.” Claire replied. “I’m rather glad to tell you the story, to be honest. I haven’t spoken of this for a long time, It feels nice.”

“Does Frank know about it?” Joe asked in a sheepish smile, hoping Claire would continue on. 

“Yes” was all she could say. Despite the awkward inquiry, her face was still blushing from the high of the earlier question. 

“And he still lets you wear it?” Joe tried to hide the shock in his voice but was unsuccessful. 

“It’s still on my finger, isn’t it?” She wiggled her fingers in answer. 

“Is there more to the story, LJ? Like how did he give it to you? Did he get down on one knee? Were you in a special place like a mountain with a gorgeous view? Was there someone who wore it before you? and How do you know so much about where it came from?” Joe asked in rapid succession that had Claire giggling in amusement. She looked at the clock, it was still pretty early to go home and she knew she had time to tell the story, not that it was long to start with. 

“Ever the romantic you are, Mr. Abernathy” she patted his shoulder. “If you still buy the next round, I might share some more details” Joe signaled the bartender and newly poured drinks arrived in no time. 

Claire took a deep breath, mentally going through her and Jamie’s history and took note of the things she might need to change - minor 18th century details that might not make sense in the 20th century setting. “This story stays between us, alright. Not a word to Gayle. Questions are asked at the end of the story if we still have time - if not, then unlucky you.” she raised one eyebrow and Joe nodded in agreement. 

“Okay. First thing you should know is that this relationship began rather quickly and by quickly, I mean, think of it in the lines of a…one day’s notice kind of thing.”


End file.
